


The Hero and the Man

by alanna_the_lionheart



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, Children, F/M, Family, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, Heroism, Identity, One Shot, Reveal, Romance, Secret Identity, Short & Sweet, Superheroes, True Love, arrow season 4, olicity - Freeform, the green arrow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-13
Updated: 2015-09-13
Packaged: 2018-04-20 12:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4787081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alanna_the_lionheart/pseuds/alanna_the_lionheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the world finds out that Oliver Queen is The Green Arrow, it struggles to define the notion of a superhero. In the end, it takes the woman who knows him best to help them understand not just the hero, but the man behind the mask. Set a few months after the end of the series, and then beyond. Could be viewed as an epilogue to the series, or perhaps a final episode.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Hero and the Man

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know where the hell this came from. I may have been possessed when I wrote it. This is different from anything else I’ve ever written, and I like it all the more because of that, even if I’m incredibly nervous about posting it. Hopefully you guys like it, too.
> 
> Started off as a response to the following idea (before it took on a life of its own): Can we talk about the fact that EVERY.DAMN.TIME Oliver puts on that suit this season, he’s going to be thinking about HER? About WHAT HE’S FIGHTING FOR? About how she worked with Cisco all summer in secret to design a new suit, because she just KNEW that he’d need it again. Because she knows Oliver better than he knows himself. Because he’s A HERO, and she believes in him, and she wants him to believe in himself, too.

**The Hero and the Man**

 

The world eventually finds out about Oliver Queen: billionaire playboy, Vigilante, The Hood, The Arrow, Al Sah-him, Star City Mayor…and the Green Arrow.

 

They find out about Felicity Smoak, too: hacktivist, QC IT Girl, Executive Assistant, Tech Village employee, VP of Palmer Tech, CEO of Palmer Tech, Mayor’s Wife, CEO of Queen, Inc….and The Green Arrow’s partner in every sense of the word.      

 

They never find out about the others: Diggle, Thea, Roy, Laurel, Sara, Ray, or Lyla. With a little help from Quentin and Laurel Lance, the world never finds out the identities of the other masked heroes that roam the streets of Star City.

 

Oliver and Felicity face trial for what they’ve done, and in an unprecedented decision…the world sets them free. They are tried, and they are found innocent…because for the first time, mankind votes with its heart and not its head.

 

When the world finds out about Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak, the world sees fit to label them. Words like “hacktivist” and “super genius” are thrown Felicity’s way, and while she isn’t too fond of the former (it brings up far too many painful memories of life before the Arrow) she can’t say she hates being called “super” or “a genius.”

 

As for Oliver? The world calls him a “superhero,” and it’s a “super” nickname he’s less fond of than she is. People call him a “superhero,” but deep down, Oliver’s pretty sure they have no idea what it _really_ means to be a superhero. He hears the way people talk about him, and he comes to believe that they throw the word around as a joke; that they don’t really believe his stories, or understand what he’s done for them.

 

Oliver Queen is the first of his kind.

 

But then suddenly there are _more_ superheroes. Tens of them, hundreds of them. Most of them, like the Green Arrow’s team in Star City, never reveal their true identities. Some of them retain not-so-secret identities (most people are convinced that Bruce Wayne is Batman, but no one ever proves it). And finally, a few of them, like Oliver, are forced to reveal themselves. Barry Allen becomes the second superhero to reveal his own identity.

 

Once the world realizes that Oliver Queen is not the only superhero – once they start to look deeper – they find more heroes….

 

And the world _reveres them_.

 

And yet….

 

In the end, it comes down to this: Oliver Queen becomes the world’s first superhero…and for a long time no one quite understands what that means.

 

* * *

 

When the world lets Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak free, they fall off the face of the Earth. God only knows how they do it. A combination of Felicity’s “super genius” computer skills, neighbors that stay silent, and, for all anybody knows, a little bit of magic and mysticism. Rumor has it they never leave Star City, but no one can ever prove they still live there.

 

But wherever they go, and however they disappear, they do it _together_ …and they start a family.

 

And the world lets them.

 

The world lets them live in peace for ten good years.

 

Ten _amazing_ years.

 

But then the unthinkable happens, and a man sees fit to test The Green Arrow one last time. The world waits and watches and prays as Oliver Queen makes a choice:

 

Felicity Smoak…or Star City?

 

* * *

 

_The man was insane. Years of drug induced madness, a decade underground on the same island where he’d found the woman that he loved dead…._

_The man was psychotic, but he was also smart._

_Crazy smart._

_He formulated a plan he thought no one could possibly foil._

_But in the end, he made one crucial mistake: he underestimated Felicity Smoak._

_She never had time to tell Oliver the plan. She barely had time to reassure her children that no matter what happened in the next hour they should know everything was going to be all right. So when the man took her...Oliver feared that the next time he saw her would also be the last._

_Oliver had known the man was alive, and at large, but he hadn’t known where he was. But then Star City was in trouble…and he’d left her._

_God help him, he’d left her._

_She should’ve been SAFE. Her, and their children  – even their cat and dog – should have been safe._

_But they weren’t._

_He took her._

_He left their kids, left their cat and dog…_

_…and he took HER._

_Oliver didn’t know there was a plan. She never had time to tell him. And so when Oliver arrived at the abandoned warehouse outside of Star City…he found himself faced with the toughest decision he’d ever had to make._

_Her…or the city?_

_He had no plan._

_No backup._

_No hope._

_He was alone._

_And he had to make a choice._

_And he made it…._

_He chose to save the city._

_And the world screamed, “WHY?”_

* * *

 

The world has questions: for him, for their children…for _her._

Because Felicity Smoak doesn’t die that day…but neither does Star City burn.

 

Felicity’s plan saves her life, her husband’s life, and the lives of her children and every other citizen of Star City.

 

The man doesn’t kill her. He never gets a chance to. He’s good…but she’s _better_. And in the end, it’s Felicity’s super glitch and Oliver’s own choice that saves them all.

 

Including Slade Wilson.

 

The man sits in a padded cell and raves for years about how Oliver Queen was willing to let his wife and mother of three children die in order to save Star City. How could a man who claimed to love his wife more than life itself be willing to let her die? Slade would have given _anything_ to see Shado just one last time.

 

Word of Slade’s ranting quickly spreads…and suddenly everyone wants an interview with Oliver Queen; with The Green Arrow.

 

Everyone wants to know his story.

 

* * *

 

Before the trial, Oliver had never wanted to tell the world his story. _Ever_. After the trial, he feels the same. It’s Felicity who wants to tell the world about him. But after discussing it with him, she respects his wishes, and she doesn’t bring it up for a long time.

 

But when Slade turns their world upside down – _again_ – everything changes.

 

And so when the world finally clamors for an interview with Oliver Queen, Oliver refuses…but he tells Felicity that if _she_ wants to give one, he’ll stand behind her decision and support her however he can.

 

And so she accepts.

 

Felicity Smoak tells the world about The Green Arrow…and about Oliver Queen.

 

What follows are some are some highlights from that interview.

 

* * *

 

*** “Why did you finally agree to this interview, Mrs. Queen?”**

 

“The first thing I want to make clear is that I’m doing this for one reason and one reason only: I want the world to see what I see every time I look at Oliver Queen. I want the world to see what I see when I wake up every day and see his smiling, beautiful face next to me, or hear one of my kids screaming down the hallway. I want the world to see Oliver Queen for who he really is: a hero…and a man.”

 

*** Discussing Oliver’s transition to The Green Arrow**

 

“When I showed him that suit, he looked so _happy._ I’d never seen him look at his old suit with anything but disdain. But that new suit…he wore it with _pride_.”

 

“After I showed him his new suit, the first thing he asked me was _“when?”_ , and so I told him about how I’d spent the summer working on it with Cisco Ramon…in secret. He was furious with me. I hadn’t seen him get angry in more than five months. I knew he wanted to scream at me, but he never did. Instead he just asked me _“why?”_ , and so I told him.

 

_“Because **I knew** , Oliver. I knew you would need it again. I knew that no matter how **desperately** you wanted to settle down and live happily ever after, you’d need the suit again. Because you’re **a hero** , and that’s what heroes do: they sacrifice themselves to do the right thing. As long as your city needs you – as long as your family and loved ones need you – you’ll be there. **And I wanted to be there with you.** Every time you put that suit on, I wanted you to think of me…so you could remember what you were fighting for. So you could remember that you were fighting **to live**.”_

*** Discussing Slade’s ultimatum.**

 

“That first choice? On the Island? That was _never_ a choice. And that second choice – kill the Count or watch him hurt me – that wasn’t a choice for him, either. But this? Me, or the city? _This_ was a choice. And it’s one he’s never regretted.”

 

*** “I think this is the question everyone wants answered the most, and I hope you feel comfortable talking about it: Why did Oliver choose to save the city over you?”**

**_(Felicity pauses for a long time before she answers this one. No one knows what’s going through her mind in this moment. No one knows that she’s replaying that night in her head for what must be the hundredth time….)_ **

_When Slade lay unconscious on the floor, his computer system destroyed, Oliver untied her, helped her stand, and pulled her into a tight hug. She could feel his heart racing against her chest, and she wanted to soothe him. To tell him everything was going to be okay. But when he pulled away she found that she couldn’t speak, and so she just smiled at him instead. **And he knew**. Oliver told her later that night that when he looked at her in that moment, he knew he’d made the right choice. She wasn’t mad at him: she was **proud** of him…and she loved him all the more for it. And so when he told her how he chose, he said it with a smile on his face and his heart bursting with love._

**_(Felicity pauses for a long time before she answers this one...and when she finally does, there are tears in her eyes)_ **

 

“This is the one question Oliver told me I could answer for him. He said that if this question came up, I should tell you exactly what he said.

_“My biggest fear has always been disappointing you, Felicity. Since the day I walked into your office, I’ve never wanted to disappoint you…and I knew what choice you’d want me to make tonight. More than that, I knew what choice I **had** to make; what choice I had the strength to make…because you believed in me. You helped me become **a hero** , and after everything we’ve been through, I could never let you down. If I’d let you live, if I’d let all those people die, you never would have forgiven me…and I never would’ve forgiven myself. And so I told him to kill you…and spare the city.”_

 

“He loved me with everything he had…and that’s why he chose to let me die.”

* * *

 

She doesn’t tell the world everything, not by a long shot. But she tells it enough.

 

It’s the only interview she ever gives.

 

* * *

 

_“Felicity…the only things I brought back from the Island were pain, suffering, and darkness. I don’t want to be that type of person anymore.”_

_“Maybe you just need to be a different **kind** of person.”_

 

_“You need to become someone else…become **something** else.”_

 

_“The world didn’t just need a hero, Felicity...it needed a **superhero** …and you were the first person who showed me that I could be one.”_

 

* * *

 

**_Superhero._ **

 

The word means something different to everyone who hears it, but the point is that it means _something_.

 

His story, her story – _their story_ – means _something_ to everyone who hears it.

 

When Oliver Queen dies at the age of 86, outliving his wife by less than a day, the world mourns the loss of a great man: a loving husband, father, brother, and friend.

 

But the world also mourns the loss of a hero…because the world knows, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Oliver Queen was a hero.

 

But not just any kind of hero.

 

A **_superhero._**

****

**_…the end…_ **

**Author's Note:**

> FYI, I’ve never read the comics. I have no idea if the DC world ever finds out that Oliver Queen is The Green Arrow or finds out the identities of any of its superheroes. None of this is based on any DC superhero comic lore, but since the writers/directors/actors have made it clear that this show isn’t meant to be based solely off of comic canon, I’m okay with it.


End file.
